Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis played knocks of 62 and 48 respectively as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by nine wickets here at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. With this loss, Punjab have been knocked out of the playoff race. K.L. Rahulled side have to settle with 12 points from 14 matches, while CSK also have the same number of points from as many matches. Chasing 154, CSK got off to an excellent start as openers Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad put on 57 runs inside the first six overs. Both batsmen eventually stitched together a partnership of 82 runs, but finally, the stand was broken by Chris Jordon in the 10th over as he dismissed du Plessis (48).
Ambati Rayudu then joined Gaikwad in the middle and both batsmen did not let momentum slide away for CSK. The duo put together an unbeaten second-wicket stand of 72 runs, taking CSK over the line by nine wickets with seven balls to spare. Rayudu and Gaikwad remained unbeaten on 62 and 30 respectively. Earlier, Deepak Hooda played an unbeaten knock of 62 runs as KXIP posted a total of 153/6 in the allotted 20 overs. Sent into bat first, KXIP got off to a good start as openers Rahul and Mayank Agarwal put o n 4 8 runs for the first wicket.
How- ever, CSK came back strongly in the sixth over a s Lungi Ngidi clean bowled Agarwal (26). Lungi Ngidi then foxed Rahul (29) as the Kings XI Punjab skipper failed to read the slower ball, and as a result, he was bowled. In the 11th over, Nicholas Pooran (22) was sent back to the pavilion by Shardul Thakur, and KXIP was reduced to 68/3. Imran Tahir got the big wicket of Chris Gayle (12) in the 12th over as he had the left-handed batsman adjudged leg-before wicket and as a result, KXIP was left struggling at 72/4. Deepak Hooda and Mandeep Singh then got together at the crease and the duo put on 36 runs for the fifth wicket.
In the 17th over, Ravindra Jadeja bowled Mandeep (14), and this pegged KXIP back However, Deepak Hooda managed to hit some big shots in the final overs, and as a result, KXIP managed to post a total of more than the 150-run mark. For CSK, Lungi Ngidi scalped three wickets.
Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 154/1 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 62*, Faf du Plessis 48, Chris Jordon 1-31) defeat Kings XI Punjab 153/6 (Deepak Hooda 62*, KL Rahul 29, Lungi Ngidi 3-39) by nine wickets.
